Skype co-founder takes on his own company with competitor, Wire
Former Skype team members have joined the new service, which hopes to reimagine chat apps and fix their problems
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The co-founder of Skype has backed a new service that hopes to challenge messaging apps including his own, by fixing the problems that frustrate users about text and voice messaging and file sharing.
The creators hope that the app can combine the popularity of other apps including WhatsApp and workplace chat service Slack, as well as Skype.
The team, based in Switzerland and Germany, includes people who have worked at Skype, as well as Apple, Nokia and Microsoft, which bought Skype for $8.5 billion three years ago.
“Skype was launched more than a decade ago. A lot has changed since then - we are all used to free calls and texting, and we have taken to carrying our computers in our pockets,” said Janus Friis, a co-founder of Skype. “It is time to create the best possible communication tools, as beautiful as they are useful. Wire is just that.”
The app is available on iOS, Android and OS X, and keeps conversations synced across all three platforms. The app can be downloaded from Wire's website.
The company says that it has developed new technology to make calls sound more crisp and clear, and the app integrates other software including SoundCloud.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments